The Swine Health Information Center’s (SHIC) February Domestic Swine Disease Monitoring Report is available.
Author Archives: Paul Sundberg
SHIC-AASV Webinar Will Address Emerging PRRS Virus Strains L1C 1-2-4 and Rosalia
Emerging diseases sometimes come with familiar names coupled with increased risk and need for response. In the US, the PRRSV L1C variant of RFLP 1-4-4 has been a significant challenge in the Upper Midwest for two years and now PRRSV L1C 1-2-4 has become a concern. In Spain, a PRRSV strain with increased virulence known as Rosalia has affected production since 2020. SHIC, with AASV and Iowa State University’s Swine Medicine Education Center, will host a webinar on emerging PRRSV strains on Tuesday, February 21, 2023, at 11:00 am CT.
SHIC-AASV Webinar Will Address Emerging PRRS Virus Strains L1C 1-2-4 and Rosalia
Emerging diseases sometimes come with familiar names coupled with increased risk and need for response. In the US, the PRRSV L1C variant of RFLP 1-4-4 has been a significant challenge in the Upper Midwest for two years and now PRRSV L1C 1-2-4 has become a concern. In Spain, a PRRSV strain with increased virulence known as Rosalia has affected production since 2020. SHIC, with AASV and Iowa State University’s Swine Medicine Education Center, will host a webinar on emerging PRRSV strains on Tuesday, February 21, 2023, at 11:00 am CT.
SHIC Wean-to-Harvest Biosecurity Program Research Call Nets 41 Competitive Proposals
The Swine Health Information Center, along with the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research and Pork Checkoff, joined together to fund and launch a two-year Wean-to-Harvest Biosecurity Research Program in the summer of 2022. In October 2022, a call for research proposals was announced with the goal of investigating cost-effective, innovative technologies, protocols, or ideas to enhance biosecurity during the wean-to-harvest phases of production. By the submission deadline of December 16, 2022, significant interest in the Program resulted in SHIC receiving 41 proposal submissions. Review is now underway.
SHIC Follows-Up on APP15 Outbreak and Finds Unique Results
In late November 2021, outbreaks of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae serotype 15 in the upper Midwest were detected. The outbreaks were unusual in several respects, including 1) the relatively rarity of APP15 isolation in the US, 2) the unusually high mortality for this strain, and 3) the epidemiologic evidence of lateral transmission between systems within a narrow geographic radius. Following the outbreak, SHIC funded work with Dr. Derald Holtkamp of Iowa State University to lead a team evaluating possible sources of APP15 transmission between company-owned sites with outbreaks. In parallel, SHIC funded work with Drs. Alyona Michael and Marcelo Almeida, ISU Veterinary Diagnostic Lab, to rule out endemic maintenance of APP15 in sow herds that had supplied finishers impacted in 2021 and to characterize post-outbreak ecology for identification of risk factors for lateral transmission. Their interim report reveals several key findings.
SHIC’s 2022 Progress Report Details Deliverables to Safeguard Swine Health
US swine herd health is vulnerable to emerging domestic and international swine diseases, as the introduction of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus in 2013 clearly revealed. African swine fever, as well as other foreign animal diseases, threaten today. Checkoff funding has given the Swine Health Information Center the opportunity to focus on emerging swine disease risk. SHIC’s 2022 Progress Report, presented to and accepted by the board of directors of the National Pork Board on December 15, 2022, details steps taken in 2022 to achieve the mission of safeguarding the health of the US swine herd.
SHIC Seeks Infectious Aerosol Biocontainment Strategies
A review of technologies that remove or/and inactivate airborne pathogens found that air filtration, solely consisting of fibrous filters, is currently the only established and implemented system on swine farms. Thus, SHIC funded a project with the goal of identifying other industrially and medically implementable technologies – electrostatic precipitators and ultraviolet-C systems, both in-duct and upper room – that could have a role in livestock management as they are scalable and effective. The review, conducted by a team led by Dr. Montserrat Torremorell of the University of Minnesota, includes examining these and other aerosol biocontainment options for their use on swine farms.
SHIC Seeks Input for 2023 Plan of Work
The Swine Health Information Center is requesting broad industry input for the 2023 Plan of Work which will guide activities in the coming year. Input may include topic areas, research priorities, and identified industry needs in which SHIC should focus efforts, such as an emerging swine disease or an emerging swine health issue. Rather than restricting efforts of the Center, the Plan of Work provides a roadmap for the next year but remains flexible, allowing SHIC to react to issues of the industry as they occur in real-time while staying true to the organization’s mission. SHIC’s mission is to protect and enhance the health of the US swine herd through coordinated global disease monitoring, targeted research investments that minimize the impact of future disease threats, and analysis of swine health data.
SHIC Wean-to-Harvest Biosecurity Program RFPs Released
SHIC, along with the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research and Pork Checkoff, joined together to fund a Wean-to-Harvest Biosecurity Program to be implemented over the next two years. Proposals to investigate cost-effective, innovative technologies, protocols, or ideas to implement biosecurity during the wean-to-harvest phase of production are now being sought. Proactively enhancing wean-to-harvest biosecurity will help control the next emerging disease in the US pork industry and improve US swine herd health, all part of SHIC’s mission including analysis of swine health data and targeted research to benefit the US pork industry.
Post-symposium, SHIC Continues Work on JEV Preparedness and Next Steps
In October 2022, SHIC sponsored a Japanese encephalitis virus symposium attended by pork producers, veterinarians, animal and public health officials and pork allied industries. The symposium was conducted at the Center for the Ecology of Infectious Diseases (CEID), University of Georgia, with both in-person and virtual participation. JEV preparedness activities in the US – entry and establishment risk assessment; research priorities supporting identification, surveillance, and response; and facilitating further information sharing through an ongoing CEID project – are underway after review of the Australian experience that informs the work and process.